Way back when I was only teaching yoga to grown-ups, my son was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder. As far as the doctors were concerned, my son’s central nervous system hadn’t fully developed. As far as I was concerned, my child threw fits that lasted hours on a fairly regular basis with no warning.
Months of Occupational Therapy did wonders for my son, but then his progress plateaued. The therapist suggested we trade one of his two weekly therapy appointments for a yoga class. We did and the results were amazing. Within a few months my son was discharged from therapy altogether and he’s never looked back.
I was a little embarrassed. Here I was teaching yoga to rooms full of people who often told me all the wonderful things the practice did for them. I, myself, had experienced the benefits of the practice. Yet, it never occurred to me that yoga could help my son. Honestly, at the time, I thought you couldn’t really teach yoga to kids. At least not in a way that would bring about any sort of meaningful change. I started to suspect I was wrong.
Wanting to get to the bottom of yoga for kids, I asked Parents magazine if I could write an article about it. (Click here to see the Parents magazine article.) When they said yes, it was as if they’d given me a password to speak to all the leading researchers in the field. I learned that yoga could help children with everything from impulse control, emotional outbursts and stress to asthma, ADD and gastrointestinal issues. This, coupled with my son’s experience, convinced me that yoga could and did help children. That’s the moment I decided to teach yoga to kids.
If you’d like to teach yoga to kids, sign up for the Yoga Playhouse Teacher Training March 30 – April 2.
